Wear It Now: Albert Maysles Eyewear for Barneys

Albert Maysles, whom Jean-Luc Godard has called “the best American cameraman,” is the sort of person you just love to love, not only because he’s given us such celebrated documentaries as Grey Gardens and Salesman but also because he has no shortage of style. The filmmaker’s signature look? A lit-from-within smile and trademark spectacles dating to the sixties, the latter of which are now offered at Barneys New York in collaboration with the eyewear label Barton Perreira. Designed in classic readers and sunglasses, the frames are flawlessly replicated: a moderated cat-eye topped with silver insets that glint like confetti—a perfect pairing with the sportswear spotted on recent runways (think Céline, Jil Sander, and Stella McCartney). “We saw everyone wearing glasses that looked like his. Instead of looking for the best glasses inspired by Albert Maysles, we thought, ‘Why not have the real authentic glasses?’ He is such an iconic, respected, and beloved figure,” says Judy Collinson, Barneys EVP of womenswear. And what does the 82-year-old (who credits Marc Jacobs, Phillip Lim, and Yoko Ono as style influencers) think of this happenstance trendsetting? “It’s all with the eyes; the eyes have it. My mother always used to say, ‘There is good in everybody,’ and I look for that.” It’s this intuitive and graceful vision we admire so; may we all view the world in his frame.